Catholic Social Services Australia has welcomed the Albanese Government’s announcement that tax cuts will be restructured to better support low and middle-income Australians.
In a statement, CSSA said it had long argued that the Stage 3 Tax cuts legislated in 2019 would exacerbate income inequality and should be either abolished or substantially reconfigured.
CSSA’s criticism of the original Stage 3 Tax cuts was that they provided only minimal cost of living relief to people earning under $120,000 per annum, with the greatest benefit going to those earning over $180,000 per annum, representing just the top 5 per cent of earners.
“The way the original tax cuts were structured would have weakened our progressive tax system and would have exacerbated income inequality,” said Monique Earsman, Executive Director of CSSA.
“We applaud the proposed changes and call upon the Government to further consider what they can do in the upcoming Budget to lift the rate of working-age social security payments to at least meet the poverty line (to around $76 a day).”
The revised package of tax cuts, effective from July 1, will see more than 12.5 million taxpayers receive a tax cut, a significant increase from the initial model that would have benefited about two million of our nation’s people.
By recasting the tax cuts to assist lower-income taxpayers, CSSA said the Government is taking a “crucial step toward mitigating economic disparities, particularly relevant in the post COVID-19 era, which is marked by global conflicts and economic uncertainties”.
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CSSA applauds Labor Government’s revision to stage 3 tax cuts (CSSA)
